How can you go wrong when you write a screwball comedy and cast Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy? You can’t, at least not easily. With a cast such as this, there is so much going for your film that it becomes nearly impossible to screw it up. Even better was casting Lionel Barrymore in a pivotal role. Alas, the powers that be saw to it that that fell through. Walter Connolly stepped in to replace him, delivering one of his finest performances, though. This is one of those comedies that is just as good as some of the most famous screwball comedies of the 1930s. Yet it doesn’t get talked about nearly as much as something like Bringing Up Baby or It Happened One Night. Libeled Lady is hardly an obscure film, but it doesn’t get as much attention as it should.
Wealthy young woman Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is falsely accused by the New York Evening Star of breaking up a marriage; the story is based solely on misinformation that is quickly proven false. But the paper has already been printed, and before it can be stopped, several hundred issues make it out into the world. She is obviously incensed by the accusation and, alongside her father, James Allenbury (Walter Connolly), threatens to sue the paper for five million dollars. Such a suit would bankrupt the paper so, in a panic, the owner calls up Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) to come in and work damage control. The problem is, Warren is presently getting into his tuxedo so that he can be married to Gladys Benton (Jean Harlow). When word gets to him about the lawsuit, Warren drops everything and rushes back to the paper, leaving behind his fiancé who has been through this before and is losing her patience in him.
Warren sees just one way out of this mess: track down the one man he knows specializes in eliminating litigation: Bill Chandler (William Powell). When he finally finds the man, a deal is struck where Bill will get a quick marriage, then intercept Connie and her father as they travel back to file the suit. Once he has made contact with her, he will get her to fall for him, all so he can then prove the paper’s original story to be true and defeat the libel suit. But where to find a woman who will marry Bill on the spur of the moment? Warren knows just such a girl. In typical screwball fashion, things don’t go exactly as planned, mix-ups occur, and mayhem ensues.
This kind of madcap comedy can only work if the players sell the concept. Part of that is not winking at the camera, breaking the fourth wall, or trying to oversell things. The silliness has to grow out of the situation and come across as natural. It takes a special kind of performer to be this funny while making it appear that natural. William Powell is playing the kind of proper gentleman who thinks highly of himself. He thinks he can study something like trout fishing from a book, spend a few hours with a professional fisherman, and be able to pass himself off as a seasoned fisher to James, who really is a seasoned fisherman. He does manage to convince James of his knowledge of the sport, but this leads to an invite to go fishing with him and his daughter.
Verbal knowledge is not the same as real-world experience, and when he finds himself at the river, he is able to replicate the perfect cast, thanks to his hours with a real professional, but not the experience needed to find the right spots and to catch any actual fish. Only through sheer dumb luck is he able to snag anything on his line, and only after falling into the water trying to retrieve a beginner’s guide to fishing that he dropped in the water, desperate to retrieve it before James and Connie can see it. William’s performance, falling over and over into the rapidly moving water as a giant bass tries to run away with his line, is a clear example of him selling the comedy. This is a simple pratfall in a realistic situation and a figurative fish-out-of-water scenario, elevated by a master craftsman at the top of his game. It’s over-exaggerated, for sure, but the way William Powell is playing it is first-rate.
You can coast a long way on comedy, but you can only get so far if the characters don’t have chemistry. Powell and Loy had already proven they had that chemistry two years prior with The Thin Man. They had also co-starred in this year’s Best Picture winner, The Great Ziegfeld. They would eventually make fourteen films together, nearly half of them in The Thin Man series. It’s safe to say that they had on-screen chemistry. What’s equally impressive, though, is that Powell also had chemistry with Jean Harlow. For much of this film, he is married to her character, selling outwardly that they are in love with each other. While they overdo the act, it still works on that level, and when Gladys is rightfully upset with how things are going, you can feel that she is developing feelings for Bill. Jean Harlow is great as always. This would be one of her last films, sadly, as she suffered some serious health issues that eventually took her life just a few short months after the release of this film.
You would think with this kind of a plot that Warren would be the odd man out. After all, he does nearly everything wrong when it comes to Gladys. He leaves her at the altar because of his job, something that he seems to do a lot of. He also strings her along, promising her vacations he never delivers on, and marries her off to a stranger just for his work. She is rightfully upset with him throughout. He is a real piece of work and should get kicked to the curb in the finale. But being a screwball comedy, that’s not what happens in the end. Spencer Tracy is far too good an actor to make you truly despise his character even when what he is doing is just plain awful. While his character deserves to be beaten down, we never quite want it to go that far. There are a lot of twists in the final ten minutes, but the film ultimately resolves itself in a way much as you would expect for this kind of film in this era.
For a film made during the Breen era in Hollywood, it is surprising how much of a cavalier attitude it takes with marriage. Bill is legally married to Gladys when he is romancing Connie. While there is no blatant sexual material, he is technically cheating on his wife just by pursuing Connie. The code would eventually ring all of this saucy material out of films, but this early on, some of it was still making it through.
There is so much to enjoy in this film that it would be an injustice to try and discuss it all in this forum. If you haven’t seen it, track it down. It’s well worth the time invested to see this one. The humor, the romance, the drama all work on their own levels. These are A-list actors giving it their all, and we, the audience, reap the benefits of it. I cannot recommend this movie enough. From the first scene we can see the cast are having a blast being in this and that joy and good humor translate into the final project.
Academy Award Nomination:
Outstanding Production: Lawrence Weingarten
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Release Date: October 9, 1936
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, and Walter Connolly
Directed By: Jack Conway
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